Yes it's the beach at Hayle, Cornwall again but please stick with it.
We spent a good, but largely wet week in Hayle this Summer. The sunsets are always spectacular as the sun disappears behind St. Ives and given that we were camping 3 minutes walk away from the beach, I was hoping to get plenty of opportunities to capture it perfectly.
The weather didn't oblige in the way I was expecting, but it did provide other opportunities. The generally stormy days meant the sea was a little angry in the evenings. I was hoping to capture a sunset, backlit clouds all with the added bonus of a mirrored image in the calm, wet sand. In my mind it was perfect.
There was no calm, but there was a decent surf. With the incoming tide, there were plenty of people body-boarding and even surfing (not seen that in Hayle before) well into the evening. Perfect.
This shot was taken on the way down to the beach from Beachside Holiday Park and it immediately jumped out at me as I turned the corner.
There was a small clump of people enjoying the last of the light, and they were perfectly silhouetted by the setting sun. The fabulous EF16-35mm gave me the wide angle, ensuring that the wooden edges of the path gave me the leading lines I was looking for.
(Canon 5D MkII, Canon EF16-35mm f/2.8L II USM @ 16mm, f/16, 1/60)
The rest of the images from that evening were fine, but this unplanned shot was easily my favourite. Funny how that works out sometimes.
Wednesday, 3 September 2014
Monday, 18 August 2014
It's all for charity!
Whilst a little off topic, I thought I'd post my ALS Icebucket Challenge video right here. Rest assured, I'll be back on point soon.
Post by Andy Clist.
Friday, 23 May 2014
Every Lap I'm Two-Wheelin'
It's been too long since I last went to see any club motorsport, and even longer since I went to Thruxton. A friends 40th Birthday celebration and the early May Bank Holiday gave the nudge needed (if any was) to take the camera gear back to the circuit.
The shear mention of Thruxton instantly sends a shiver down my spine. I've been rained on, blown over, snowed and hailed on. I've never once been warm here. It is with some grace then, that the sun shone throughout the day. I was even a little hot at times.
The event was the annual visit of the British Touring Car Championship, which has been re-ignited this year, with a bunch of returnees from 'the good old days'.
Thruxton is a fantastic, quick circuit, and for the non-grandstand dweller, there are a couple of key places you'd like to try and view from. Getting there in good time, we bagged the spot at the back of the bank, just as the cars were turning into Campbell corner. This was a good start and stayed that way throughout the day.
The last race of the event was the 3rd BTCC race and a couple of us wandered off looking for a different view. It's not ideal trying to get a decent spot when there are very well established crowds at each vantage point, but the flexibility of the trusty 100-400mm lens made it somewhat easier.
The photo I've chosen is of Daniel Welch's Proton skipping the kerb at Cobb, just around the corner from where we were stationed for most of the day.
It was clear from watching his line throughout the day, that he was a little tighter than most of his competitors around Cobb, frequently causing the inside wheels to lift. So, this was the shot I wanted, just needed to nail the panning.
(Canon 5D MkII, Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM @ 400mm, f/10, 1/80)
We'd been messing with frankly ridiculous shutter speeds for hand-held panning all day. Whilst I got one or two pin-sharp at 1/60, this one was captured at 1/80. Not bad at 400mm.
Next on my motorsport agenda is the British Grand Prix. I cannot wait!
The shear mention of Thruxton instantly sends a shiver down my spine. I've been rained on, blown over, snowed and hailed on. I've never once been warm here. It is with some grace then, that the sun shone throughout the day. I was even a little hot at times.
The event was the annual visit of the British Touring Car Championship, which has been re-ignited this year, with a bunch of returnees from 'the good old days'.
Thruxton is a fantastic, quick circuit, and for the non-grandstand dweller, there are a couple of key places you'd like to try and view from. Getting there in good time, we bagged the spot at the back of the bank, just as the cars were turning into Campbell corner. This was a good start and stayed that way throughout the day.
The last race of the event was the 3rd BTCC race and a couple of us wandered off looking for a different view. It's not ideal trying to get a decent spot when there are very well established crowds at each vantage point, but the flexibility of the trusty 100-400mm lens made it somewhat easier.
The photo I've chosen is of Daniel Welch's Proton skipping the kerb at Cobb, just around the corner from where we were stationed for most of the day.
It was clear from watching his line throughout the day, that he was a little tighter than most of his competitors around Cobb, frequently causing the inside wheels to lift. So, this was the shot I wanted, just needed to nail the panning.
(Canon 5D MkII, Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM @ 400mm, f/10, 1/80)
We'd been messing with frankly ridiculous shutter speeds for hand-held panning all day. Whilst I got one or two pin-sharp at 1/60, this one was captured at 1/80. Not bad at 400mm.
Next on my motorsport agenda is the British Grand Prix. I cannot wait!
Wednesday, 30 April 2014
The Snow Business evening meander
I have for some time wanted to take a flight in a hot air balloon over Bath, and last year I finally got an opportunity to do so. It came about in a slightly unusual way.
As part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012, a balloon glow was organised on top of Little Solsbury (or Solsbury Hill as it's more famously known).
Living on the side of the hill, and being just a 20 minute hike to the top, this was something I wasn't prepared to miss.
As you can imagine, I fired off a whole load of pictures, but this is the one that helped me out.
(Canon 5D MkII, Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 24mm, f/4, 1/10)
Some Months later, the owner/operator of the 'Snow Business' balloon in the foreground spotted this image on Flickr and asked whether he could use it in the company magazine. I was only too happy to help. I requested no payment (I'd already sold a couple of large prints of it, so was happy to let this go), but was promised some time in the future, I'd get a free flight. These things mostly never work out, and this offer was soon forgotten.
One Saturday, almost a Year later, I got a call. True to his word, there was the offer. 'Fancy a flight tomorrow?'
Thankfully, it was a glorious evening for it. The wind direction wasn't perfect, in that we didn't head directly over the city, but it did take us close to my home and rather aptly, over Solsbury Hill.
This is my favourite shot, taken just after take-off. It shows the River Avon from a few hundred feet above Saltford, near Bath
(Canon 5D MkII, Canon EF17-40mm f/4L USM @ 40mm, f/5.6, 1/640)
Rather spell bound by the whole experience, one tends to forget the plight of the people chasing the balloon in their cars in order to pick you up at the end of it.
As part of the Diamond Jubilee celebrations in 2012, a balloon glow was organised on top of Little Solsbury (or Solsbury Hill as it's more famously known).
Living on the side of the hill, and being just a 20 minute hike to the top, this was something I wasn't prepared to miss.
As you can imagine, I fired off a whole load of pictures, but this is the one that helped me out.
(Canon 5D MkII, Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 24mm, f/4, 1/10)
Some Months later, the owner/operator of the 'Snow Business' balloon in the foreground spotted this image on Flickr and asked whether he could use it in the company magazine. I was only too happy to help. I requested no payment (I'd already sold a couple of large prints of it, so was happy to let this go), but was promised some time in the future, I'd get a free flight. These things mostly never work out, and this offer was soon forgotten.
One Saturday, almost a Year later, I got a call. True to his word, there was the offer. 'Fancy a flight tomorrow?'
Thankfully, it was a glorious evening for it. The wind direction wasn't perfect, in that we didn't head directly over the city, but it did take us close to my home and rather aptly, over Solsbury Hill.
This is my favourite shot, taken just after take-off. It shows the River Avon from a few hundred feet above Saltford, near Bath
(Canon 5D MkII, Canon EF17-40mm f/4L USM @ 40mm, f/5.6, 1/640)
Rather spell bound by the whole experience, one tends to forget the plight of the people chasing the balloon in their cars in order to pick you up at the end of it.
Friday, 25 April 2014
Hayle Beach
It's a common fact that I love Hayle Beach.
Hayle is a small, North Coast Cornish Town situated on St. Ives Bay. The beach is an incredible 3 miles of golden sand (so the tourist-info sign says), stretching from Carbis Bay to Godrevy Lighthouse. More importantly, my parents used to live there.
Since they moved 'home' to Bath, my family and I haven't returned to Hayle for around 7 Years, at least until this Easter passed. We were staying near Falmouth and Hayle Beach was an obvious destination for a day or two beside the sea, especially given the wonderful weather we were blessed with.
With the tide out, the sea is a good few minutes walk from the sheltered cliffs, where it's best to set up camp. Ava and I took a stroll, so she could jump over some waves, obviously. On our way, I took this.
(Canon 5D MkII, Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 98mm, f/7.1, 1/400)
I can't take any credit for the quality of the light - it's simply amazing, most of the rest I'm pretty pleased with.
If ever I was questioned as to why I shoot RAW, I'd point people this image. It was the middle of the day, and the harsh light can prove tricky from a metering perspective. There were a couple of lurking shadows, but the 5d Mk2 did a pretty decent job. I was able to adjust the tone curve to bring out Ava's eyes a little more very effectively. For me, this just makes the image.
I also tweaked the vibrancy a little in Lightroom. Ava's blue jumper was a rather lucky choice given the sky tones, and this just lifted the shot enough to really bring it to life.
I'm a little annoyed about missing her right hand, but this crop was pretty much straight from the camera.. should've got it right first time.
Hayle is a small, North Coast Cornish Town situated on St. Ives Bay. The beach is an incredible 3 miles of golden sand (so the tourist-info sign says), stretching from Carbis Bay to Godrevy Lighthouse. More importantly, my parents used to live there.
Since they moved 'home' to Bath, my family and I haven't returned to Hayle for around 7 Years, at least until this Easter passed. We were staying near Falmouth and Hayle Beach was an obvious destination for a day or two beside the sea, especially given the wonderful weather we were blessed with.
With the tide out, the sea is a good few minutes walk from the sheltered cliffs, where it's best to set up camp. Ava and I took a stroll, so she could jump over some waves, obviously. On our way, I took this.
(Canon 5D MkII, Canon EF24-105mm f/4L IS USM @ 98mm, f/7.1, 1/400)
I can't take any credit for the quality of the light - it's simply amazing, most of the rest I'm pretty pleased with.
If ever I was questioned as to why I shoot RAW, I'd point people this image. It was the middle of the day, and the harsh light can prove tricky from a metering perspective. There were a couple of lurking shadows, but the 5d Mk2 did a pretty decent job. I was able to adjust the tone curve to bring out Ava's eyes a little more very effectively. For me, this just makes the image.
I also tweaked the vibrancy a little in Lightroom. Ava's blue jumper was a rather lucky choice given the sky tones, and this just lifted the shot enough to really bring it to life.
I'm a little annoyed about missing her right hand, but this crop was pretty much straight from the camera.. should've got it right first time.
Thursday, 24 April 2014
A little bit of history
Finding a starting point is going to be difficult, but I've settled on this. My Flickr stream has an album which is auto-generated by Dopiaza. Each day each identifies the 100 'Most Interesting' images from my photo stream. How this is worked out by Flickr is a deeply-guarded secret, but it normally does a pretty decent job of identifying one's most popular shots. Searching through these 100 images for a suitable starting point is certainly easier than delving into the 5,348 that currently sit in my photostream.
Anyway, here's the image. It's the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (RAF BBMF) Avro Lancaster Bomber (PA474)
(Canon 5D MkII, Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM @ 220mm, f/8.0, 1/40)
This aircraft remains one of only two Lancasters still airworthy today. The RAF BBMF do a great job of summarising the history of this aircraft on their pages.
Anyone who has followed my photostream on Flickr over the Years will know that I thoroughly enjoy taking (or attempting to take) interesting images of aircraft, but this one is one of my favourites. There's a couple of reasons for this.
Technically, I'm really pleased with it. I was reading an article once that discussed the merits of using unusually slow shutter speeds whilst shooting motorsport (another passion of mine, I'm sure it'll crop up again). This inspired me to try out the technique. Panning can be hard enough in itself, but using sub-100th/sec shutter speeds make it particularly tricky.
The article suggested using 1/60th second and below to create really dramatic images, but this only really works with aircraft if there is some background context, in this case, the ground. This particular shot was take at 1/40th second. The Lancaster had just landed following it's display, so was travelling relatively slowly and I fired off a number of shots in my steady-ish panning motion. This one was the only truly sharp result.
The B&W was added in Lightroom, as was the vignette. I'm no longer keen on the vignette - I'll re-cut it at some point to remove it. Why B&W? Well, it was a pretty drab day, and the sky was uninteresting. I think it's adds more than it takes away.
The extra special part for me, is that my Grandfather was in Bomber Command in World War 2. He was a flight engineer in Halifax Bombers and survived to tell the tale. Hero.
I took this at the annual Royal International Air Tattoo in 2013. It's a fantastic event which I really can't recommend enough.
Anyway, here's the image. It's the RAF Battle of Britain Memorial Flight (RAF BBMF) Avro Lancaster Bomber (PA474)
(Canon 5D MkII, Canon EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM @ 220mm, f/8.0, 1/40)
This aircraft remains one of only two Lancasters still airworthy today. The RAF BBMF do a great job of summarising the history of this aircraft on their pages.
Anyone who has followed my photostream on Flickr over the Years will know that I thoroughly enjoy taking (or attempting to take) interesting images of aircraft, but this one is one of my favourites. There's a couple of reasons for this.
Technically, I'm really pleased with it. I was reading an article once that discussed the merits of using unusually slow shutter speeds whilst shooting motorsport (another passion of mine, I'm sure it'll crop up again). This inspired me to try out the technique. Panning can be hard enough in itself, but using sub-100th/sec shutter speeds make it particularly tricky.
The article suggested using 1/60th second and below to create really dramatic images, but this only really works with aircraft if there is some background context, in this case, the ground. This particular shot was take at 1/40th second. The Lancaster had just landed following it's display, so was travelling relatively slowly and I fired off a number of shots in my steady-ish panning motion. This one was the only truly sharp result.
The B&W was added in Lightroom, as was the vignette. I'm no longer keen on the vignette - I'll re-cut it at some point to remove it. Why B&W? Well, it was a pretty drab day, and the sky was uninteresting. I think it's adds more than it takes away.
The extra special part for me, is that my Grandfather was in Bomber Command in World War 2. He was a flight engineer in Halifax Bombers and survived to tell the tale. Hero.
I took this at the annual Royal International Air Tattoo in 2013. It's a fantastic event which I really can't recommend enough.
Wednesday, 23 April 2014
Welcome
Well, this has taken longer than I thought it would. I've been taking photographs for as long as I remember, and over the last 10 Years, I've been taking it a little more seriously.
I live in Bath, England and I'm blessed with beautiful surroundings. Naturally a good deal of my photographs are taken in and around my City, but not all. You can see (and buy) a selection of my images at Photos of Bath, but that's not why we're here.
I've got too used to dumping my images on photo sharing websites (Flickr mainly), but not spending time telling the story behind them. This blog represents my attempt to rectify this.
The intention is to spend as much time talking around the images, as showing them off.
Here goes.
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